[Ads-l] [EEMSG-SPAM: Suspect][Non-DoD Source] pooched (UNCLASSIFIED)

[Ben Zimmer]

While "fuck the dog" originally had the "loaf/shirk" meaning, it took on
the "blunder" meaning as well. As my trusty HDAS tells me (as well as The
F-Word and GDoS), it's attested with the "blunder" meaning from 1962 in a
reference to World War II (Killens, And Then We Heard the Thunder).

Likewise, "screw the pooch" had the dual meaning, at least early on. Though
the "loaf/shirk" meaning fell out of use, that's how it was reportedly used
by Yale students c. 1950 in the story I relayed in the Slate piece. Here's
the exchange between Yale roommates Jack May and John Rawlings, as May
remembered it:

----
JACK: You’re late, John, you’re fouling up. You are fucking the dog.
JOHN: Really, you are so vulgar and coarse, I just don’t want to hear it.
JACK: You’re still late. Is this better? You are screwing the pooch.
JOHN: (shrill laughter)
----

On Tue, Oct 23, 2018 at 8:18 PM Jonathan Lighter <wuxxmupp2000 at gmail.com>
wrote:

> "Fuck the dog" means 'to loaf or shirk duty; fuck off," but "screw the
> pooch" means 'to blunder seriously.'
>
> JL
>
> On Tue, Oct 23, 2018 at 8:03 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> wrote:
>
> > Great research!  Too bad the Yale Alumni Magazine would be an unlikely
> > candidate to consider this news fit to print, even if they’re happy to
> > publish Fred’s findings.
> >
> > > On Oct 23, 2018, at 5:10 PM, Ben Zimmer <bgzimmer at GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> > >
> > > Yes, it was definitely modeled on "fuck the dog," which was already in
> > use.
> > > See my Slate piece.
> > >
> > >
> >
> https://slate.com/human-interest/2014/01/screw-the-pooch-etymology-of-the-idiom-dates-back-to-nasa-and-the-military.html
> > >
> > >
> > > On Tue, Oct 23, 2018 at 5:05 PM Laurence Horn <laurence.horn at yale.edu>
> > > wrote:
> > >
> > >> Is there any reasonable speculation on the origin of the expression?
> > Was
> > >> (metaphorical) “fuck the dog” already in widespread use before “screw
> > the
> > >> pooch” arose?  Is it clear what prompted it?  It strikes me as being
> > >> analogous in some ways to “jump the shark”, but that one has a
> > >> straightforward origin story.  Presumably there’s no TV episode we can
> > >> blame for this one.
> > >>
> > >> LH
> > >>
> > >>> On Oct 23, 2018, at 3:46 PM, MULLINS, WILLIAM D (Bill) CIV USARMY
> > RDECOM
> > >> AMRDEC (US) <william.d.mullins18.civ at MAIL.MIL> wrote:
> > >>>
> > >>> CLASSIFICATION: UNCLASSIFIED
> > >>>
> > >>>
> > >>>> ----
> > >>>>
> > >>>> "Screwed."
> > >>>>
> > >>>> Nicolle Wallace on _Deadline: White House_ yesterday:
> > >>>>
> > >>>> "The second member of the Dowd-Cobb team [is] basically
> acknowledging
> > >> that, on obstruction, the President's pooched."
> > >>>>
> > >>>> < screw the pooch (popularized by _The Right Stuff_) < fuck the dog
> > >>>>
> > >>>> JL
> > >>>
> > >>> Don't know the dating that HDAS has on this, but I looked the phrase
> up
> > >> in HathiTrust and found it:
> > >>>
> > >>> [The Peace Corps} _The Peace Corps Reader_ Washington DC: Office of
> > >> Public Affairs, Peace Corps, 1969. p.  88.
> > >>>
> > >>> "Oh, man, did I ever screw the pooch on this one -- they can't
> write!"
> > >>>
> > >>> From the cover design, it almost looks to be for a juvenile audience.
> > >>>
> > >>>

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